Hate to break it to you, but your truffle oil wasn't made from truffles. Your vanilla extract? Well, that's probably just a lab-made derivative of crude oil. And your shaker of Parmesan cheese? It probably has wood pulp inside.
You might feel the companies behind these food products are using deceptive packaging — but it's legal. However, there's a whole other level of trickery that's completely illegal: food fraud. That's when criminals bottle up corn syrup and call it 100% honey, or when they pass off cheap mozzarella as pure Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Globally, the fraudulent food industry could be worth $40 billion. It hurts legitimate producers, funds criminal activities, and can even harm consumers. We head around the world to uncover how producers get away with food deception and how we can spot the real stuff.
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Truffles
03:44 - Maple Syrup
05:19 - Wasabi
07:42 - Parmesan Cheese
11:15 - Vanilla
12:58 - Caviar
14:40 - Honey
17:30 - Olive Oil
20:04 - Wagyu Beef
22:20 - Coffee
24:05 - Saffron
25:58 - How criminals get away with selling fakes